The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-09-15


having had a good man or woman abide
there. George Whitefield used to scratch
on the window of the room where he was
entertained a passage of Scripture, and in
one case, after he left, the whole house
hold was converted by the reading of that
passage on the window pane. The
woman of Shunem furnished a little
room over the wall for Elisha, and all the
ages have heard the glorious consequences.
On a cold, stormy winter night nv
father entertained Trueman Osborne, the
evangelist, and through all eternity / will
thank God that Trueman Osborne stopped
at our house. How many of our guests
have brought for us coincidence and SYM
pathy and help! There is a legend told
of st. Sebald, that in his Christian rounds
he used to stop for entertainment at the
house of poor cartwright. Coming
there one day, he found the cartwright
and his family freezing for the lack of
any fuel. st. Sebald ordered the man
to 90 and break the icicles from the side
of the house and bring them in, and the
icicles were brought into the house and
thrown on the hearth, and they began to
blaze Immediately, and the freezing fam
lily gathered around and were warmed
by them. That was legend; but how
often have our guests come in to gather
up the cold, freezing sorrows of our life,
kindling them into illumination and
warmth and good cheer. He who opens
his house to Christian hospitality turns
those who are strangers into friends.
Years will 60 by and there will be great
changes in you, and there will be great
change in them. Some day you will be
sitting in loneliness, watching a bereave-
ment, and you will get a letter in
strange handwriting, and you will look
at the postoffice mark and say: ''Why,
l don't know anybody living in that
city," and you will break the envelope,
and there you will read the story of
thanks for your Christian generosity
long years before, and how they
have heard afar off of your trouble. And
the letter will be so full of kindly remi-
niscences and Christian coincidence it will
be plaster large enough to cover up all
the deep gashes of your soul. When we
take people into our houses as Christian
guests, we take them into our sympathies
forever. In bort, Holland, a soldier
with sword at his side stopped at
house, desiring lodging and shelter. The
woman Of the house at first refused ad-
mittance, saying that the men of the
house were not at home; but when he
showed. his credentials that he had been
honorably discharged from the army, he
was admitted and tarried during the night.
In the night time there was knocking
at the front door, and two ruffians broke
in to despoil that household. No sooner
had they come over the doorsill than the
armed guest, who had primed his piece
and charged it with slugs, met them, and
telling the woman to stand back, l am
happy to say, dropped the two assaulting
iesperadoes dead at his feet. Well, now
there are no bandits prowling around to
! destroy our houses; but how often it is
| that we find those that have been our
guests become our defenders. We gave
them shelter first, and then afterwards in
the great conflicts of life they fought for
our reputation, they fought for our prop
erty, they fought for our soul.
| Another reward that comes from Chris
tian hospitality is in the assurance that
we shall have hospitality shown to us and
to ours. In tie upturnings of this life
who knows in what city or what land we
may be thrown, and how much we may
need an open door? There may come no
such crisis to us, but our children may
be thrown into some such strait He
who is in Christian manner hospitable
has free pass through all Christendom.
1t may be that you will have been dead
| fifty years before any such stress shall
come upon one of your descendants; but
do you not suppose that God can remem-
ber fifty years? and the knuckle of the
grandchjld will be heard against the
door of some stranger, and that door will
open, and it will be talked over in
heaven, and it will be said: THAT man S
grandfather, fifty years ago, gave shelter
to stranger, and now a strangers S door
is open for a grandson
Among the Greeks, after entertaining
and being entertained, they take a piece
Of lead and cut it in two, and the host
takes one half of the piece of lead and
the guest takes the other half as they
part, These two pieces of lead are
handed down from generation to genera
ton, and from family to family, and
after while, perhaps one OF Che families
in want or in trouble go out with this one
with the corresponding piece of lead, and
no sooner is the tally completed than the
old hospitality is aroused and eternal
friendship pledged. So the memory of
Christian hospitality will go down from
generation to generation, and from fam
ily to family, and the tally will never be
lost, neither in this world nor the world
TO come.
Mark this: The day will come when
We will all be turned out of doors
without any exception-barc foot, bare
head, no water in the canteen, no breat
in the haversack, and we will go IN tina
way into the future world, And won
der if eternal hospitalities will open be
fore us, and if we will be received int
everlasting habitations? Francis Fresco
bald was rich Italian, and he was yer.
merciful and very hospitable. One da.
an Englishman by the name OF Thoma
Cromwell appeared at his door asking TO
shelter and aims, which were cheerful,
rendered. F'Eescobald afterward lost al
his property, became very poor, an
wandered up into England, and on
day he saw a procession passing
| ana 1Of IL MIS- bUc lOIu SlisAAiSShoi y
England. and 10! the lord chancellor o
England was Thomas Cromwell, the yer,
man whom he had once befriended dow!
in Italy. The lord chancellor at the iirs
glance of Frescobald recognized him an
dismounted from his carriage, threw IN
arms around hini and embraced him
paid his debts, invited hin to his hous
,eud said. ''Iere are ten pieces OF mone
to l,,,y for the bread you gave me, an
here arc ten pieces of money to provld
for the horse you loaned me, and her
are four bags, Iii each of which are 40
ducats. Take them and be well. So
will be mt last with us. Il we enteftai
Christ in the person of his oisclples !
this world, when we pass up into "a
next country we will meet Christ in
regal procession and he will pour all tn
wealth of heaven into our lap and ope
before us everlasting hospitaEties. An
o how tame are the richest entertain
ments we can give on earth compare
with the regal munifcence which Chris
will display before our souls III HEAVIER
was reading the account wmc
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